Le Loup
by pluie.espoir
Summary: Little Red Riding Hood is walking through the woods to bring grandma some sweets; but little does he know, a golden-haired wolf is following him as he goes. Kida/Mikado, AU
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Originally written for the drrr kink meme! **

**Original prompt: anyone(male)xmikado - mikado dressed as red riding hood (although still male)...**  
><strong>it can be the fairy tale or just cosplay (for whatever reason). bonus: if there is smut somewhere(although it's not necessary)<strong>

**Enjoy!**

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><p>It had become a sort of routine over the years, bringing food to his uncle every month. Mikado generally wasn't the type to trek through deep underbrush for hours to his uncle Orihara-san's place hidden deep within the forest; he was much more suited for simple scholar work in the town. But his mother had pleaded with him all those years ago to pretty, pretty please bring a basket of food to Orihara-san lest he fall down dead from lack of nutrition.<p>

Thus, a reluctant Mikado took the job upon himself.

It wasn't that he disliked his uncle. Orihara-san always maintained a certain level of respect for the boy that Mikado found hard-earned amongst others (likely due to his moe ways, though this was never pointed out to him aloud). Orihara-san even drank tea with him during his visits. There was nothing wrong with that.

Except that he was a little bit crazy. Sometimes Mikado would knock on the door, only to smell smoke and burst in to see his uncle laughing hysterically over a flaming shogi board. Even worse, sometimes he caught Orihara-san talking to something in a tank that was always conveniently blocked from Mikado's sight via arm or pillow.

Either way, it was Mikado's responsibility, and he wasn't about to go back on a promise, especially if it meant the loss of his parents' trust. Despite how most kids in town acted, he still believed his parents to be some of the greatest in the world, even if he'd never seen his mother's face and his father liked to bother him to help with dissections.

"I'm leaving now," Mikado told his mother as he looped his arm into the basket handle on the kitchen table. It was heavy with goods paid for by his mother's successful horseback courier job and his father's medical expertise.

"Don't forget to wear your hood!" Celty scribbled quickly on a notebook of parchment she used to communicate. Mikado used to wonder why she was so strange, but his father only ever gave him half-answers involving bandits and damaged vocal chords. He eventually learned not to ask.

"But mum!" Mikado blushed, then mumbled the last part, "…It makes me look like a girl."

"You have very fair skin, it must be protected. And I made that hood for you! Do you not like it?" Celty's scribbles got faster and faster in anxiety. "Did something happen to make you not like it? Did aliens brainwash you? Tell me, Mikado!"

"Mum, calm down!" Mikado halted her hand on the quill, then sighed in defeat. "It's alright. I'll wear it."

He got the sense that his mother was smiling, and he smiled softly back before picking up the red travelling cloak that he despised so much from the closet and tying it on expertly with one hand. It was light from years of wear and was threadbare in some places. The red had faded to a paler shade with so many washes, and its almost-pink colour didn't help Mikado's gender problems.

"Be safe, Mikado! Don't stray from the path!" Celty held the parchment above her head for Mikado to see as he nodded and swept out the door.

Mikado was running a little late today, as the sundial in town square told him. It was already late afternoon, and Mikado hastened his pace towards the town's outskirts in an anxious attempt to reach Orihara-san's house before sundown. At worst he would have to stay overnight – but even the thought had the blue-eyed teenager shuddering.

The sun was bright today; Mikado pulled up his hood just as he entered the sparse protection of the forest trees. This was about as far as women and children ventured into the forest, picking simple berries or flowers. A mile or so inwards was as far as most men would traverse, cutting wood or hunting small animals. No one dared go as far as Mikado did, save the few who lived within.

There were tales brought back from some of the braver hunters of a wolf, monstrous in size, practically made of shadows. None of the stories involved the men gaining injuries – they all ran before that could happen, sometimes leaving their game behind in the underbrush. All of them claimed that they only had time to see one feature of the creature: a pair of large, glowing golden eyes.

Mikado shook his head to clear it as he passed a couple of makeshift snares hung in the trees. I won't think of that now! He told himself. There was no use scaring himself when he had a job to do. Plus, he'd been through the same forest tens of times, without any sighting of the so-called 'wolf'.

"They're just silly tales," he said to no one as the trees closed him tighter around him like a wolf's hungry jaws. "There hasn't been any sightings of wolves in these parts for centuries."

Mikado began to swing his basket, the tension falling from his shoulders as he began to speak to himself more openly. "They probably just mistook it for a particularly large squirrel. What kind of wolf can't even outrun a man?" The boy scoffed.

"Well, even if there is a wolf, I'm much too small fry for it. Smallest boy in class, actually." Mikado scowled, but even the scowl was cute. "But it doesn't matter! I don't have to be big to be a scholar! And when all the boys in class need help with studying to get out of that stupid little town, I won't be there to help them!"

"Sounds like a plan~!"

Mikado jumped at the sound of the amused voice, spinning around quickly and sending the fabric of his cloak flying. "Who's there?" Instinctively, Mikado held the basket closer to his chest as his oceanic eyes scanned the surrounding trees that suddenly seemed ten times more menacing with the setting sun.

"Just a lonely little wolf looking for some moe moe company~! What a cute little boy my Mikado is!" The voice replied, and Mikado whipped to his left to see a boy his age with golden hair and eyes, smiling widely. Mikado squinted – it looked like he was wearing something on his head – but the tree adjacent cast a shadow across the top half of the boy's face.

"Aw, what a vulnerable little face! Kawaii~!" The boy across the path from him suddenly shot his arm out then swept it dramatically upwards to rest on his bare chest. "I am Masaomi Kida! But you can call me Kida-kun, Mikado-channnn~~!"

Mikado was about to tell this stranger off for improper honorifics when he noticed that this 'Kida' wasn't wearing clothes. "Wh…You're naked!" He squeaked and flinched back, heat in his face rising at once.

Kida blinked, surprised, before his lips tilted upwards in a suggestive leer. Mikado looked away in embarrassment, clutching the basket tighter. "Does that make you uncomfortable, Mikado-chan?" Kida leaned into Mikado's ear before the smaller boy noticed he'd gotten so close. "Are you afraid of the Big. Bad. Wolf?"

"N-No!" Mikado pushed Kida back. "I'm a –"

But Kida never found out what Mikado was, because the boy had frozen, jaw slack, with the observation of matching ears on the blonde's golden head. Before he could stop himself, Mikado also glanced down at Kida's lower half and gasped at the sight of a twitching, golden wolf's tail.

"I-I…that's…!"

"Ah, I know," Kida sighed, then posed with hands on hips and knee cocked. "You're entranced by the mere sight of my wolfhood! You must be thinking now – how can all of that fit? Why is it not blocking out the sun? I must tell you, I've been this way since I was a little pup. My parents told me even before I caught my first rabbit: someday, you will make another wolf very, very ha–"

"YOU'RE THE WOLF!" Mikado found his voice somewhere from deep inside him, and it rang out through the forest, effectively halting Kida in his self-indulgent lecture and silencing the nearby birds.

The two stared at each other for a long moment, before Kida bounced back. "Aww, Mikado-chan recognizes me? All those days of peering in through windows and following you through your forest walks, only to find that you enjoy my company just as much as I do~! Victory!"

"Wait, what? No! You're the wolf everyone talks about!" Mikado chose to ignore the last bit – he already had one wolf to deal with right now, he didn't need to think about one spying on him at all hours.

Kida's head fell and he sighed. "I see…" Mikado almost reached forward in the silence to comfort the lone wolf when his head snapped up again. "That's perfect! Everyone is talking about me! What do they say, huh, Mikado-chan? Do they talk about my wits? My strength? No, they must all be speculating about my dashing good looks! My hair, soft as silk; my eyes, gold as the stars; my skin, flawless as a still lake!" Kida sighed flamboyantly and hugged himself, making kissy faces to something Mikado couldn't see.

Kida swiftly latched his arm around Mikado's shoulders as he continued speaking. Mikado was too distracted by watching Kida's exaggerated motions and furry ears to notice that Kida was steadily leading them off the path and into the trees. "Of course, I'm obliged to grace them with my autograph, at least! I'm sure they'll be lining up all through the forest just to catch a glimpse of my magnificent beauty!"

"Actually, they're all afraid of you," Mikado replied bluntly, beginning to tire of Kida's incessant compliments.

"Ah, the troubles of being born beautiful. Everyone is just so intimidated!...Except you, Mikado-chan." Kida smirked down at Mikado and sniffed his head. "Mmm, you smell great too!"

"Wh-What! Don't do that, Kida-kun!"

"You used my name! Who knew you wanted to move so fast…" Kida grinned.

"No! We're both guys, and…hey! Where are you taking me?" Mikado ripped away from Kida's side and quickly scanned the surroundings. He could still see the orange light of the path when he turned. They had only been walking for a couple minutes.

"Awww, Mikado-chan! Don't you want to come with me to my den! I promise it's warm and comfy!" Kida leaned over to whisper in the smaller boy's ear. "And there's plenty of bedding to go around."

The words sent a wildfire of red spreading across Mikado's face, even going as far as his ears and neck. "I have to get to my uncle's house! I promised!"

"Hmmm…" Kida tapped his chin with a single slender finger. His eyes lit up then. "I see! We can race for it, then! If you make it there before me, I promise never to come by your house again." Mikado started at this. The wolf had been coming to his house? "But if I win, I get to do whatever I want with you."

A shiver travelled Mikado's spine and he took a step away, only to be followed closely by Kida's own feet. "F-fine! But you can't use the path, since you're faster!"

Kida beamed. "I'll see you soon then, Mikado-chan! Don't miss me too much~!"

Kida sent one more confident beam Mikado's way before he darted away into the underbrush, leaving the other boy to stand dumbfounded and alone between the trees.

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><p>By the time Mikado had reached Orihara-san's house, the sun had fallen nearly below the horizon. The teenager sighed with the thought of staying overnight with his insane uncle. Perhaps he would ask Kida-kun to walk him back home? After all, wolves made great bodyguards…right before they ate you. On second thought…<p>

Mikado shook his head of useless ramblings and knocked on the door. Two full minutes passed before he realized that Orihara-san probably wasn't going to answer – who knew why he did or didn't do anything these days? – and pushed his way through into the cottage.

"Orihara-san?" He called out, slipping off his shoes politely in the doorway and shifting forwards stiffly. "It's me, Mikado. I brought food." Mikado poked his head carefully around the corner. "Ori –!"

Mikado's sentence was cut off abruptly by a pair of arms squeezing tightly around his waist from behind. They weren't familiar; the body was shorter and thinner than Orihara-san's, and much, much warmer. "Ahhh, Mikado-chan! Look who got here first!"

Something wet and warm traced a circle on Mikado's neck, and the blue-eyed boy let out a squeak. "K-Kida-kun?"

The wet appendage left Mikado's neck, and a shiver drew itself down his spine – something that felt like…disappointment? "Mmm, Mikado-chan is so tasty~!"

Mikado gulped as he suddenly became very aware of a hot pair of hands settling onto his hips, thumbs reaching under his shirt to stroke goosebumps onto the sensitive skin there. "W-what are you d-doing, Kida-kun?"

"Just carrying out my side of the deal!" Kida lowered his head and began to nibble the tip of Mikado's ear, occasionally soothing the abused skin with a swipe of his tongue.

"B-but I –!" Mikado gasped as he felt one of Kida's 50° hands trail up his front and pinch his nipple through his shirt. The coarse fabric rubbed against the hardened peaks in a strange sensation that had Mikado blushing up to his ears.

"Awww, Mikado-chan's a blushing virgin!" Kida continued rolling the rosy nub as his other hand slid downwards.

Mikado opened his eyes in surprise – he hadn't noticed that he closed them in the first place – when he felt Kida's hand hovering just a few inches shy of his crotch. "Kida-kun? Where – ah! Nnngghhh!" Mikado let out a shameless moan as Kida brushed against his manhood, bucking forward involuntarily.

"Mmmm, Mikado," Kida growled huskily. Mikado could feel the wolf's hardness against the small of his back.

"No! Stop…ahhh…!" Mikado whimpered as Kida suddenly ground the heel of his palm.

"No…I'm gonna…nngh!" Mikado ground back against Kida's hardness. The sound of Kida's heavy panting and short groans in his ear only served to make him blush harder.

"Hnnn, Mikado, God!"

"Kida-kun!" Pressure was building. Kida felt like he was going to burst soon.

This was bad…

So bad…

But…

But…

Kida groaned loudly. Both of them were rushing towards the peak blindly when suddenly the door crashed behind them.

The two whipped their heads over to see the door laying pitifully on the ground, a tall blonde man wielding a log stepping through the destruction. He looked around wildly, turning as he saw them. Rage had overcome him so much that he seemingly didn't notice the teens' state of dishevelment.

"Sh-Shizuo-san!" Mikado stammered, flushing all through his face and neck.

"Mikado, where is that flea?" The man boomed, his livid grip on the log causing it to crack ominously. A small squirrel jumped out of it, scampering away quickly out the empty doorway as if sensing the coming storm.

"He's not here! I don't know w-where he went!" Mikado stuttered and remembered to step away from Kida, smoothing out his shirt self-consciously and pulling the cloak over to hide his embarrassing bulge. Kida, who was stark naked as always, did nothing, mostly unfazed and unembarrassed – after all, he'd walked in on many of his forest friends getting it on all spring, and all he had to do was leave.

"URGH! I'll get him tomorrow!" Shizuo growled and stalked back out, picking up the door as he left and slamming it back into place on its hinges.

In the wake of the interruption, a still very-aroused Mikado and Kida stood awkwardly in the living room. Mikado shifted and looked away, while Kida tried to grab his attention with his golden-eyed gaze.

"Mikado…" Mikado kept his attention on the ground, face slowly returning to its regular shade, when Kida swiped a long lick along his cheek.

"Kida-kun!" Mikado jumped. "What was that for?"

"It's how wolves show love." Kida poked his tongue out again and gave a tiny lick to Mikado's nose. This caused a much smaller, sweeter blush to flower across Mikado's cheeks, and he sent up a small smile Kida's way. Then, Mikado delicately stood on his tip-toes and pressed a tiny kiss to Kida's cheek. When he lowered back down, Kida was holding his face in surprise.

"That's how humans show love."

Kida broke out into a beam, and Mikado returned a small smile. The wolf leaned in and pressed a kiss to Mikado's forehead when Mikado asked, "So, what did you do with uncle Orihara?"

"You mean the crazy guy that lives here?" Kida asked as he played with Mikado's hair. "He wasn't here when I arrived."

Something about this statement gave Mikado a niggling feeling in the back of his mind, but he ignored it as Kida began to kiss down his neck.

Meanwhile from the nearly-shut closet, a red-eyed Izaya Orihara began to giggle.

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><p><strong>AN: If you enjoyed, please review! Any thoughts count. Sorry about the painfully awkward lime. ^-^;<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Kida didn't consider himself a stalker.

He was born a good, brave pup, and he grew to be an even better, braver wolf. Sure, some of the other forest creatures thought he was a show-off, good-for-nothing, and other nasty names whispered behind his back, but he still believed himself to be a decent guy – and wasn't that all that mattered?

He'd spent years searching for the one. While all the others paired off and ran away to join some other pack, Kida stayed true to his ideals. And those were to find someone who was smart, kind, and most of all…

…had lots of moe moe cuteness!

It was on a perfect summer's morning three years ago when Kida met him.

Kida was instantly intrigued by the fine quality red cloak that the boy wore, billowing behind him in the breeze. Along with the breeze was the tantalizing scent of something like strawberries and rain – Kida knew instantly that this was the one. Call him a romantic to believe in love at first sight, but it had been a long spring.

The boy was meek and mild, with simple black hair and a wide forehead. His deep blue eyes were entrancing, framed by long spidery lashes and capturing the light in a way that made them almost translucent. In his hands he carried a heavy basket, and one sniff told Kida that it was filled to the brim with all forms of food. For a lone wolf eating nothing but skinny rabbits and squirrels all spring, the promise of real human food was mouth-watering.

But not nearly as mouth-watering as the adorable boy before him.

He found himself following the boy on his path to through the forest, walking a distance behind and disguised behind trees. It was clear that the boy was uncomfortable; what with the way he kept looking back anxiously and flinching at the mere sound of a rabbit cracking dry twigs underfoot.

Kida followed for another hour before the boy came to a cottage in the middle of a clearing. As the boy knocked on the door, Kida inspected the place. He recognized it as the house of a crazy man, and he also recalled spotting the blonde woodsman around the house a few times, shouting someone's name angrily as he hurled around logs and woodland creatures (he usually kept his distance at those times, lest he replace the log). However, he'd never seen the person inside.

"Mikado-kun! What a lovely surprise!" Kida jumped as he realized that the crazy man was younger than he thought, and resembled the boy…Mikado, did he say?

Kida waited until they retreated into the house before he dashed forward and peered into the window. Straining his ears, he could hear Mikado say through the wall, "Mother said you should eat better. I brought this for you."

"Thank you, Mikado! How about we play a game of chess, ne?"

And the small smile Mikado gave next just about melted Kida's heart.

From then on he followed Mikado. In and out of the forest, through the town, to his house, to his school…he rarely stayed in the forest anymore, except when people began to get suspicious.

Watching Mikado for years had made Kida accustomed to his daily habits, and he attuned his own daily routines to the boy's. When Mikado brushed his teeth, Kida scrubbed his tail. When Mikado began school, Kida drew portraits in the dirt. When Mikado ate lunch, Kida beat up his bullies in the bushes. In a way, Kida felt they had a relationship forming without the other boy even knowing it.

So it was three years to the day Kida met Mikado when he decided that it was time the boy met him. He followed Mikado as he always did, eyes easily tracking the red cloak he wore through the forest. He listened contentedly as Mikado rambled on about his day, unknowingly broadcasting it to his greatest admirer. And Kida finally made his move by interrupting Mikado's (adorable) rant.

"Sounds like a plan~!"

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><p>The beauty of being with Mikado was making him blush.<p>

Even months after their first meeting in the woods, getting all the way to second base, and finding a voyeuristic Izaya in the closet (Mikado didn't even look at him for a week after that, but Kida was hardly abashed after a lifetime of equinoxes with animals mating left and right), Mikado still found the blood in him somewhere to rush to his cheeks at any mention of Kida's perverted tendencies.

"I'm a growing wolf, Mikado! All the other animals are already preparing for hibernation!" Kida pouted at the raven-haired boy, who was sorting through laundry to clip to a line of string. The breeze blew white sheets gently, undulating through the scene of auburn leaves and crisp clouds.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Mikado replied, not unkindly but rather frankly.

"Don't be so cold, Mikado-chan! I'll get enough of that in the winter…unless…" Kida hinted, batting his eyelashes exaggeratedly (though it seemed everything about Kida was embroidered; the wolf was a walking hyperbole).

"Do you need me to lend you some more clothes?" Mikado gave a pointed look at Kida, who was wearing a pair of shorts and a thin shirt, at the pleading of Mikado who was too shy to spend all his time with a nudist.

"No, Mikado," Kida sighed loudly. "I want you to –"

He was cut off by Mikado hanging up another large sheet in between them, successfully blocking Kida's view of his lovely mate.

Kida paused a beat before swinging through a gap between the next sheets, holding them open around his face like a pair of stage curtains. "Let me stay with you!"

Mikado gave a little jump at this. "Kida-kun!"

"Ahhh, I see! You've been turned speechless by my magnificent suggestion! Shall I take your awed silence as a yes?" Kida waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"N-No!" Mikado replied instantly, an almost knee-jerk reaction after all the other crazy propositions of Kida's (including, but not limited to: having sex, running away together to the mountains, having sex, starting a mandolin duet band, having, writing a harlequin romance novel based on them, and having sex).

Kida's ears drooped, and hurt seeped into his face. "…Why not?"

"Ah! I didn't mean that!" Mikado shouted quickly, realizing his mistake. "I –"

"So that means you'll let me? Thank you so much, Mikado-chan! We'll have the best time! I'll even wash and stay and walk like a good pet! And," Kida leaned in to Mikado's blushing ear, "I can do a whole lot more too~"

"K-Kida-kun!" Mikado squirmed away and went back to hanging up clothes, though this time more shakily.

By this point Mikado was already realizing his mistake. What would he tell his parents? He couldn't very well walk in at supper and let them know a wolf he'd met in the woods four months ago (whom he didn't tell them about) was going to be living with them. They had plenty of space, but didn't wolves need to run around? And how would they explain this to the village people?

Meanwhile, Kida was thinking the same thing, but with a much more optimistic spin. He fantasized about being instantly loved by Mikado's parents, then lovingly permitted to stay in Mikado's bed at night to battle the 'chill'. The pair would walk hand in hand down the street, and everyone would serenade them with compliments for their striking, endless love!

_There's only one way to do this_, both thought at the same time.

_I'll have to sneak him in!_ Mikado thought, just as Kida realized:

_I'll have to propose in front of them!_

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><p>As a wolf, marriage wasn't usually the first thought when meeting the parents. In fact, Kida's parents were long gone, and were never married at all in the human sense of the word. But Kida himself had grown up half and half between humans and forest creatures, without any other wolves to smack some sense into him.<p>

Human instincts were simply the next step.

And Kida had seen someone's marriage once, a long, long time ago…

"_A-Anri-san?" a young, blue-eyed boy asked the girl sitting across from him in the grass. Kida peered out curiously from behind a shrub, noting that the two friends were about his age._

"_Yes, Mikado-kun?" The small pixie girl replied as she lifted a small doll into her hands. The sack girl was clad in hand-sewn wedding wear – a white dress, matching veil, and bouquet of tiny blooms._

_Mikado looked down at the doll at his feet, a sack man with a tiny suit and shiny shoes. Around the toy's small arm was a silvery human-sized ring. A blush was quickly making its way across Mikado's face as he glanced up at Anri, then back down, then back up again. He swallowed nervously._

"_C-can…Can I be the girl?" Mikado squeaked quickly, flinching from Anri's slow gaze like the squirrels Kida terrorized for fun._

_Anri paused for a moment, then nodded and smiled softly, handing the white-draped doll over to Mikado to hold. He looked down at the small thing, no bigger than two of his hands, and let a grin break out onto his face._

_The girl took the lead and placed the groom side-by-side with the bride. "Now we have them walk down the aisle," she said. The pair acted it out, shifting the dolls from one dandelion to the next. "And then he gives her the ring."_

_Mikado pulled the ring off of the little doll and nudged it loosely onto the bride's arm._

"_And then they say 'I do'." Anri turned the groom to face the bride straight-on, shoulders squaring for what Kida realized was the most important part._

"_I do," Anri said in a low voice to match the male doll._

"_I do too," Mikado replied, not pitching his voice on account of the doll from embarrassment._

"_And then they kiss," Anri said, tilting her doll dramatically towards Mikado's. His face flared red, and had to look away and squeeze his eyes shut as he tilted his doll forward and the two plush toys met in the middle._

_Kida watched in awe, mouth dropped open as Anri and Mikado pulled their dolls away. Was this how humans mated? When he accidently walked in on other animals mating, it never looked quite like this. To a young Kida, this was a baffling concept._

"_Why do people marry, Anri-san?" Mikado asked, the blush tamed within his cheeks._

_Anri tilted her head for a moment in thought, then said, "It's how we show love for someone. If you marry your true love you'll be together forever. That's what it says in all the stories."_

"_Like Shinra-san and Celty-san?"_

"_Yes. They'll be together forever because they got married," Anri replied, and Kida noticed a pleased quirk to the corner of her lips._

"_Ah…" Mikado retreated into deep thought. The wind blew between the trees, bringing with it the smooth scent of springtime daffodils and rousing earth._

"_Don't worry, Mikado-kun," Anri broke the silence. "You have to be older to get married."_

"_How old?" Mikado asked, staring down at the doll._

"_I don't know…maybe thirteen?" The girl shrugged._

_Mikado was about to say something in return when a voice nearby called out to them. "Time for lunch, you two!" A brunette man waved his arm in the air, the sun reflecting off of his glasses._

"_Let's go," Anri said softly, rising to stand as Mikado did. Together they ran towards the man, not noticing when the silver band fell from the bride's arm._

_Kida's ears immediately perked as he caught sight of the ring shining brightly in the grass. He waited for the kids to leave before checking both ways and darting out from his hiding place then quickly back in. Unfurling his fingers, he stared wide-eyed at the ring, before his mouth curled up into a wide beam._

The girl had said, after all, that people married the people they loved and would be together forever. This sort of promise was fully appealing to a wolf who'd grown up alone after everyone else left.

_I want Mikado to stay forever_, Kida thought as the aforementioned pulled him around to the back of the house.

Mikado stopped Kida at the door and turned to face him, shoulders squared with determination. "Alright. We have to be really quiet."

Kida nodded in reply, unquestioning of the request. He was convinced that Mikado was planning his own little piece of the proposal, and didn't want to spoil the surprise so soon. His tail began to wag as Mikado eased the back door open and stuck he head inside to scan for life.

Mikado waved Kida forward, sending him an odd look when he saw Kida's large grin. Shaking off the sense of foreboding, the smaller boy closed the door behind them and led the wolf up the stairs. They were in the doorway of Mikado's room when a voice travelled up from the main floor.

"Celty, my love, is that you?" Mikado gave a little squeak as he heard footsteps approaching from the floor below. Kida's ears perked in curiosity, neglecting to realize his mate's panic. In a split-second decision, Mikado shoved Kida into the corner of his room and threw a quilt on top of him.

Kida heard the door shut and listened in while peering up at the rabbit patterns over his head. Taking advantage of his perfect luck, he deeply inhaled the scent of Mikado surrounding him. He halted when he heard a man ask Mikado where he had been.

"O-Oh, just saying hello to some of my classmates around town...heh heh…" Kida could clearly imagine his tasty little Mikado rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and peering at the door.

"Why are you standing in the doorway, Mikado?"

"Ah! It's just…really messy in there!"

"It can't be that bad. Let's go in – I've actually been meaning to speak to you about something."

Like a knob had been turned up on the anxiety machine, Mikado's stutter increased frenziedly. "N-No! Really! I-I really h-have to clean up soon! Don't go in there, p-please!"

Kida heard the door knob turning despite Mikado's nervous pleading, and he flatted himself closer to the floor to mimic the appearance of a large slug. He'd played a version of hide-and-seek with Mikado a few times – except in his version, Mikado didn't know he existed and did his homework quietly while Kida watched through the window from behind a bush. They played it every week!

The door clicked open, and Kida picked up the sound of footsteps halting in the middle of the room. "…Mikado? Did you realize you are keeping a moving lump under a blanket in your room?"

Kida quickly reached back to his tail and halted its wagging, realizing that it'd been swinging back and forth in his excitement. Mikado smacked his forehead with his hand and sighed. "Sorry, Shinra-san."

"It's alright, Mikado," Shinra replied, the amusement staining his voice as he continued his journey to sit on the bare bed. He patted the spot next to him and waited for Mikado to awkwardly lower down beside him.

"W-What did you want to speak to me about?"

Shinra sighed, lapsing into what Celty deemed as 'father mode'. "Well, you're sixteen now and…you've reached the age where you may be led by certain…urges."

The atmosphere instantly infused itself with more awkwardness; so much that even Kida was blushing in his blanket burrow.

"Sh-Shinra-san?"

"Don't worry, Mikado-kun. I just want to let you know that when you're romantically involved with _someone_," Kida could feel the emphasis pointed at him, "you have to take responsibility. It's your job to be safe."

"I…I can't believe you're giving me the _talk_," Mikado mumbled, embarrassed. Kida could practically hear the boy's cheeks burning. Maybe even his ears and neck and down his chest and –

"I trust in you, Mikado," Shinra patted his adopted son on the back.

"Alright…um…can you go now?"

"No problem! I'm just glad we had this talk. Celty originally wanted to, but, you know…" Shinra made a slicing motion over his neck exaggeratedly then smiled. "Supper will be in a few hours, so be done whatever you're doing by then!"

The door clicked shut, and Kida flew out from under the blankets. He instantly started to laugh loudly at the red staining Mikado's face.

"I can't believe he," _giggle_, "actually gave you the," _guffaw_, "talk while I was here!" _snort _"That was so awkward!" Kida rolled around the floor in his amusement, not noticing Mikado's face twisting into a scowl.

"Stop that!" Mikado snapped, placing his foot perfectly on the floor so that Kida's face ran into it. "It's not like you never got the talk before!"

Kida's laughter halted as quickly as if someone had flicked off a switch. His ears drooped a little as he sat up. "Uh…no."

"What do you mean no?" Mikado asked, annoyance still tingeing his tone as he cooled down.

Kida looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean: no, I've never had the talk from my parents."

Mikado leaned forward, interested now. "Do wolves not talk about that sort of thing?"

Kida's lips flattened out for a moment tensely, before he turned his head towards Mikado with a large – and clearly false – smile on his face. "Maybe! Who knows?" He laughed a little.

"So, do you know where I could get some better clothes?" Kida pinched his cheap shorts.

"Why would you need that?" Mikado asked, head cocking to the side.

"Because I'll be joining you for dinner, of course!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, uh… totally didn't realize that I hadn't mentioned Mikado was adopted by Shinra and Celty before. I even had him call Celty 'mum' in the first part then 'Celty-san' in the flashback…I'm gonna say that he is adopted, but in the beginning as a child he wasn't too quick to trust Celty and Shinra and that's why he used their given names. Now he's more comfortable and calls Celty mum, but remains calling Shinra 'Shinra-san' for politeness and because he feels closer to his mum than dad…plus, Shinra's creepy T.T;**

**Also, uh…people keep faving but not watching? I think people are under the impression that this is a oneshot, haha ^.^;**

**This story will actually continue for another chapter or two, perhaps more if inspiration strikes, so please stay tuned!**

**If enjoyed, please review also! ^w^**


	3. Chapter 3

"Wow, human clothes are itchy. How do you stand it?" Kida grimaced as he tugged at his collar again, looking over at the smaller boy who was making his bed.

"You'll be fine. I'm the one who's going to be banned from ever leaving the house when my parents find out I'm hiding a wolf in my bedroom." Mikado sighed and plopped down on his crisp sheets, lips curved into a small frown that looked like something straight out of a cartoon.

Kida waved his hand dismissively, "Don't worry! I'll astonish your parents with my charming wit and marvellous smile! See?" The wolf beamed comically widely, extra-long canines sparkling quite marvellously, as promised.

Kida's ears drooped when he noticed Mikado's dejected face, and he calmed down enough to slink towards him and rest his chin on Mikado's knees. He looked up into the sad boy's face, those perfect lips curled downward in a way that made the wolf's heart hurt, and leaned upwards to plant a small lick on the boy's cheek.

"W-what! Kida-kun!" Masaomi jumped back at the sudden intrusion of his personal bubble, hand pressed to his damp cheek while Kida smiled sweetly up at him.

"Don't worry, Mikado. Everything will be fine," Kida murmured, then smiled brightly and gave a human-style peck to his nose.

"I have big news during supper! I can see your reaction now," Kida sighed happily, as the pink clouds invaded his vision and showed him his fantasies come to life: him getting down on one knee and proposing, only to have Mikado say something along the lines of 'oh, Kida-chan, how did you know?' then swoon as Kida planted a big smooch on his lips and swept him off his feet.

"Eh…sure, Kida-kun," Mikado replied, face incredulous but smiling.

Just then, Shinra's voice called up the stairs, "Mikado! Supper time!" The boy's smile fell as he audibly gulped.

"Why are you so nervous?" Kida helped Mikado stand, and sharp eyes caught the trembling of his knees and hands.

Mikado looked down at his feet. "My parents don't know…anything."

Kida tilted his head. "They seemed pretty smart to me. I mean, smart enough to raise you. They probably know how to do long division and everything!"

"No," Mikado stopped him, too frightened to laugh. "They don't know I'm…" He gestured between the two of them.

"Ohhhh, I get it!" Kida grinned stupidly. "Bestiality isn't a big deal, Mikado-chan! I mean, I still look pretty human, and I know for a fact that lots of girls in your school are super attracted to this one wolf, Aoba –"

"No! Theydon'tknowI'mgay!" Mikado said quickly, then gave a gusty sigh and smacked a hand against his face.

"Oh…" Kida didn't know how to comfort the human teen. Back in the forest gender didn't mean much of anything, let alone something to be ashamed of.

The two stood in silence for a moment, the atmosphere only broken by Shinra repeating his earlier call up the stairs. This woke Kida from his helplessness, and he moved to take Mikado's hand gently in his and tip his chin up to look at him.

"Don't worry, Mikado. I'll be beside you the whole way." Mikado blushed at Kida's open adoration, and nodded in reply.

Together they walked down the stairs, Kida a bit behind Mikado, and entered the kitchen. Mikado let go of the wolf's hand a moment before they stepped in, which made Kida blink a little in disappointment.

Only to be furthered when he noticed a new guest present.

"A-Anri-chan!" Sitting at the table next to Shinra and Celty was the girl in question, politely waiting with a slight smile and shy aura.

"Mikado-kun, hello. Your parents invited me over for dinner." She turned her attention to the wolf beside him with a tilt of the head. "Who is this?"

"Ah! Kida Masaomi, at your service. Don't worry about the ears and tail, I don't bite! I'm a docile wolf, trained in the arts of wooing young boys and being the life of the party~!" Kida grinned at her, gesturing as he spoke and ending with a peace sign thrust towards her and a full show of teeth.

"Hello, Kida-kun. My name is Sonohara Anri," she replied, and Kida had to blink the cutesy bubbles and flowers she exuded from his vision for a moment.

"Hello, Kida-san. I am Celty, Mikado's mother," Celty wrote.

"And I'm Shinra, Mikado's father and Celty's loving husband!" Shinra looped his arm around Celty's shoulders, only to be rebuffed instantly and left to nurse his injured hand while Kida and Mikado took their seats.

Celty helped hand out food to everyone and they quickly filled their plates, eager to move on to conversation. Kida was more inclined to the meat stew, eating the chunks of meat and trying to swallow the diced vegetables, if only to look good in front of Mikado's parents. No one wanted a wolf who only ate the good parts and left all the veggies to rot.

Now all he had to do was propose, and then he could carry Mikado off towards the sunset to live together forever!

Except that his plans didn't account for a petit girl with glasses hogging all of Mikado's attention!

"I missed you, Anri-chan! You were gone at that academy for so long…"

"Yes, I missed you too. We are permitted to visit home every few months, so I took the opportunity to see you." Mikado blushed at the kind words, and Kida found his eyes narrowing and ears pulling forwards.

"Thank you, Anri-chan! How much longer are you here for?"

"Two weeks." Kida's tail twitched. "Since the orphanage is a little busy right now, I'll probably be seeing you most of the time."

"That's great!" Mikado replied with an adorable smile. "Er, not the orphanage being full, but spending time with you."

There was clear awe and adoration in everything Mikado did when it came to this girl: in his voice, in the way his eyes widened and smile grew, in how he leaned forward and forgot his food in favour of listening to her stories of visiting her old room at the orphanage and learning things at her academy that Kida had never heard of. The wolf found himself watching them with sharp eyes, cursing the girl in his mind. Didn't she smell his scent on him? Did he have to say it out loud? Mikado belonged to him! He had ever since Kida first laid eyes on him, even if the boy didn't know it at the time! You can't fight fate!

"Unfortunately, Mikado will be spending most of his time with me!" Kida proclaimed loudly and suddenly, interrupting whatever Anri and his mate were talking about. "Doing things that we should do. You know, having picnics, feeding each other strawberries, rolling around behind the shed k–"

"Kida-kun!" Mikado glanced at his parents quickly, who were murmuring together and giving off the impression that they weren't really listening, though he noticed Shinra's eyes darting to them every few seconds.

"I don't mind," Anri smiled. "Perhaps we can all spend time together and get to know each other?"

"That sounds –" Mikado started.

"Terrible." Kida interjected coldly. "Unless you want to be sitting there awkwardly while I –"

"Kida-kun!"

"– shower Mikado with love and affection and –"

"Kida!"

"– have him begging for more while I –"

"Masaomi!"

"– enforce that_ I_ am his –"

"Kida-kun is my boyfriend!" Mikado shouted. Conversation halted. Kida sat back in shock. Shinra and Anri stared. Celty would have stared if she had a head.

The silence was practically stifling. Mikado was making the face one does when they are mortified to the point of wishing for death. The birds stopped chirping. Clouds halted movement. The Earth ceased rotating on its axis.

"I figured," Anri replied.

Mikado jumped at the broken silence. "Wait…what?"

"You two didn't exactly hide it," she replied.

"I..but I!...I don't….wha?" Mikado spluttered.

"Everyone's known you were gay since we were little. The whole town's been taking bets on how long you would take before admitting it," Anri said simply, reaching over to finish off the rest of her melon bun.

Mikado looked like he was about to faint.

"Well, now that that is settled, shall we clean up here?" Shinra said lightly. "We have to let everyone know down at Town Hall that you've finally fessed up. I think Nami owes me ¥4050."

Anri, Shinra, and Celty promptly began to clean up the table, piling dishes and wetting rags as Mikado stayed frozen in awe and Kida watched him with a raised brow. Celty gave Mikado a fond pat on the head as she passed to place the leftovers in the cellar.

Kida toyed with the thought of proposing right then as he fingered the ring in his pocket, then shrugged off the thought. He already made his point earlier, so this could wait for a better time when he needed to stake his claim again or display his love.

Plus, it looked like Mikado's brain broke.

* * *

><p>"So you and Mikado grew up together?"<p>

Anri smiled at the wolf as the three of them sat on the hill overlooking the valley town, the soft sun warming the earth and encouraging a light breeze to nudge the tall grass in gentle waves. "Yes, we met at the orphanage and played together. When Mikado-kun got adopted by Shinra-san and Celty-san we still saw each other every day."

"Then Anri got a scholarship to Gakuen Academy. It's a giant school for advanced students all the way in the North." Mikado gave Anri a friendly nudge. "She's the top student there."

"Ah, it's not that big of a deal," Anri said, waving off Mikado's praise with a soft blush. "I'm just good at studying."

"That's pretty impressive! I can't read or write. Instead, I rely on my overflowing charisma and infectious magnetism to get what I want~!" Kida bragged, squeezing Mikado's hand in his. "That's how I got Mikado-chan, after all!"

"Actually," Anri started curiously, "how did you two meet?"

The wolf and the boy looked at each other for a moment, exchanging glances: Kida's enthusiastic, Mikado's horrified.

"Well! Ever since Mikado-chan was a young lad, I, the courageous wolf Kida Masaomi, vowed to protect him from harm in the form of perverts and pedophiles! One day, he was walking through the forest where I gallantly dazzled him! I proposed that we race to his uncle's cabin, knowing that I, wolf extraordinaire, could never lose. But he was just so cute when he came in through the door after me that I couldn't help myself! I instantly began to –"

"– start a conversation!" Mikado butted in. "We got along and that was that!"

Kida pouted and leaned towards the boy, waking his fingers playfully up his chest. "Aw, Mikado-chan, you interrupted my story! And I was just getting to the good part!"

"So, do Kida-kun's parents live in the woods?" Anri asked politely.

The banter stopped instantly as Kida's smile fell and he grimaced a little, then turned to inspect suddenly-mesmerizing cloud formations. "…Sure, you could say that."

Mikado watched his boyfriend curiously, unsure of the meaning behind his ambiguous response, and made a note to ask later when Anri was gone (she was staying at the orphanage during her stay, despite his parents' protests, as she wanted to spend time with the caretakers and children there).

"Anyways, don't you think Mikado and I make the cutest couple? Someday people will travel from far and wide just to behold our magnificence, yes?" Trust it to Kida to change to subject using his own arrogance.

The trio of new friends conversed late into the day, laughing and smiling like something out of a cheesy teen novel, and waved goodbye as they split up at the base of the hill.

On the way back to Mikado's house walking through the streets, people Mikado had known for his whole life would come up to him and pat him on the back or congratulate him on finally coming out. Some even, embarrassingly enough, slipped him explicit tips or 'protection'.

"See, Mikado-chan? The whole town wants us to go through with it! Look at this! 'Ribbed for Extra Pleasure'!" Kida joked as they reached the edge of the woods near Mikado's house. He slept in turns between Mikado's room and the woods, though with Mikado he was only ever allowed on the floor near the bed.

"Kida-kun?" Mikado's earnest yet serious voice caught Kida's attention. "What happened to your parents?"

Kida's lips curled downwards. "Ah, Mikado-chan, you don't want to hear about that. It's just a boring, depressing story."

"I would like to know about you, Kida-kun. I care about you deeply." Kida jolted in surprise at the pure honesty and hope within the boy's voice. He knew the moment he stared into those deep blues he would crack and let everything spill out, but…he couldn't help it.

It was while staring into those eyes that Kida finally admitted what he hadn't even to himself.

"They left."

Mikado reached to take Kida's hand.

"Where?"

Kida looked away, then back again. There was courage in those blue eyes. "I don't know. My earliest memories are as a pup, learning to hunt from one of the other lone wolves in the area. I didn't really figure out that wolves even had packs until I was five."

"Did you ever go looking for them?"

A squeeze through the fingertips.

"There was no use. I couldn't know how long they'd been gone. Heck, I might've not even been born here! They might've just dropped me here of me and run off!" He stared at his feet with a grimace.

Fingers loosening.

"…Kida …"

Kida sighed the tired sigh of those who've seen too much. "Don't worry about it, Mikado. I'll never see know my parents. There must've been a reason they abandoned me in the first place."

The two stood in silence as the sun peeked between the trees.

"If…if it helps…I never knew my parents either." Mikado smiled sadly when Kida blinked up at him. "They both were very sick and passed a little while after I was born. I was raised by the orphanage caretakers and got adopted by Celty and Shinra-san when I was three."

The silence descended again.

The sun was lowering. Wind was whistling between the grass. Kida couldn't hear past his heartbeat.

Mikado weaved their fingers tighter.

"I just want you to know that you're not alone." Mikado leaned his forehead against Kida's as the wolf squeezed his eyes shut. He felt a pressure against his lips for a moment, a gently embrace between palms, and then the blue-eyed boy was gone.

And even hours later as Kida lay in the grass, staring up at Venus' steady light and the spider web of constellations slide across the domed sky, he could still feel the warmth of it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This chapter wasn't as humorous as I would've liked : But I guess it was time to make it a bit more serious.**

**I'm so sorry for not updating in such a long time AGAIN! I broke my toe on the last day of school (also my birthday, coincidentally), then my computer plug broke so I had to wait for the company to check my warranty and send me a new one! But here it is now, so I hope you liked it! OTL**

**Do you guys have any plot point you'd like to see here? Or what you hope the length to be, because at this point I have really no idea what to do or where to end it ^.^; I can really carry this story on for as long as you'd like me to, but since I originally planned this to be a oneshot I have no real further plans or way to end it after this.**

**I'm considering sending Kida and Mikado off to join Anri at Gakuen Academy (yes, I know what it translates to) somehow. Maybe. But then it would turn into sort of a school fic, and I don't know if I want that :S**

**Enjoying the story? Drop a review! Reviews are food for the fanfic writer's soul!**


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